Aurora Borealis story from Alaska

[AKpilot]

Quick note from a recent encounter with some Northern Lights I had. Shared this story with some friends. Figured you Punatics, who never see the "Lights" would appreciate it.

Here ya go!


Recently, 100 nm-ish South of Barrow, over the Brooks Range; I saw the most incredible Northern Lights I have EVER seen in my 7 years of flying in Alaska. No pics as it was pretty turbulent and night pics are hard with a crappy digital camera at night bucking 100 kt headwinds and plenty of chop in a King Air 200.

They came out of nowhere, really. I had heard they had been strong the past few days; and just minutes prior to them showing up, I was bemoaning not seeing any on such a clear night, never mind the nearly full moon.

They started out as the typical green glow on the horizon. Within 40 seconds they turned into green veils covering about 20 percent of the horizon. Suddenly the boring green glow spread to cover nearly 70 percent of the horizon. Then VERY suddenly, the green veils turned yellow, tripled in height, then suddenly and BRILLIANTLY shifted to red. They then scintillated even further down, seemingly even further than our paltry FL250. They turned to an eerie blue green and back to red with a pulsing, shimmery suddenness I have only seen in time-lapse reproductions......only this was real time. Back and forth they looped amongst them selves. Becoming wide yellow green veils, shifting instantly to towering red/pink spires. Like some biblical serpent, they kept doubling and twisting upon themselves. I have NEVER seen anything like it. I was totally alone in the area. I asked over Center if anyone else was seeing what I was seeing. Negatives all around. There was plenty of chatted from center, but it was all near ANC and no one was seeing anything like I was seeing.

The Lights did this continuously for 20 minutes or so, oscillating back and forth; shifting between quavering cool blue/green to scintillating red/pink. The thick undulating bands shooting off skinny little off shoots that sparkled in ways I have NEVER seen the lights sparkle before. They shifted to directly overtop us after a while. WOW! WOW! WOW! Let me tell you that was a treat. I have never felt so small (and that says a lot coming form a King Air Driver!) as I did looking directly up those hundred mile tall sheets of light. I could see them flare from quiet, soft shaped green/ yellow curved S's.....to sharp, quivering, ruby red, cathedral like spires, shooting off into infinity. It was amazing. I am not sure if I will ever see anything like it again. I will admit, I smiled like a child and even shed small happy tears.

This was a once in a lifetime event.

Your Polar Plying Pilot,

AKpilot

We're all here, because we're not all there!

[TomK]

You just had to twist the knife, didn't you? Bloody sadists... []

[AKpilot]

Tom, it was Amazing! Made me wish my little Tropospheric Perch was a little higher.

AKpilot

We're all here, because we're not all there!

[TomK]

If this was in the last couple of days, you may have seen the result of this solar eruption:

http://goo.gl/piMVDf

The site calls it a dark plasma eruption. I'll admit this is not a term I can explain. Never heard of dark plasma before. Pahoated can probably explain, he's an expert on everything.

[Punatic007]

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed it vicariously!

[terracore]

I remember living in Alaska in the winter of 1998/1999 and the aurora was particularly epic that winter. One night I had hiked out onto the frozen Mendenhall lake so that no trees would obscure my view. The aurora was an incredible tapestry of shifting ribbons of colors and shapes that were so intense they played tricks with the mind. If that wasn't epic enough, there happened to be a meteor shower that night and at its peak there were several meteors every minute. It was like God had commanded the heavens to put on a show like no other. I stayed and watched for hours until my toes and fingers went numb and I had to go inside for safety. Just before I went inside I turned around and took one last look at an experience that was truly etched into my memory forever and as I did the aurora pulsed with so many vivid bright colors it caused the snow to glow in it's reflection and then a giant fireball screamed across the sky. What a way to end the night. I have seen the aurora dozens, maybe of hundreds of times, but nothing ever compared to that night. I spoke to people who were there the previous year and saw intense aurora, the Hale-Bopp comet, and a meteor shower all at the same time and they said while it was epic, the aurora wasn't as intense that year.

Describing intense aurora to someone who has never seen it is impossible. Sure there are pictures and videos, but until somebody comes up with a 360 degree full 3D virtual reality version, the only way is to travel to where you can see it and be patient. It may take several years or longer. The sun has an 11 year cycle and I remember one solar max was mostly a dud for aurora viewing.

[1voyager1]

I lived in Alaska for almost 35 years and never saw any auroras as beautiful as the ones I saw as a kid living in a small town in the Washington Cascades during the winter of 1956. I had a Seattle PI route and delivered papers in the predawn darkness. The Northern sky was filled with huge long multicolored veils that looked like curtains hanging in the sky.
It has been a while, and we know how memory can be misleading, but I remember seeing greens, blues, reds and pinks in those veils. I am still in awe of those auroras. That was also the winter with the greatest snow fall I've ever seen in my life. Made walking a paper route with 100+ subscribers through that winter a monumental task. Tried to get rid of it but couldn't get a taker before spring.